Table of Contents

By Type of Patent Document
(please note that for most users, TAF reports displaying utility patent
statistics will be the ones of interest- - utility patents are also
known as "patents for inventions")

This chart shows the yearly number of applications and grants
for utility, design, plant, and reissue patents granted since
1963. Utility counts are divided into U.S. and foreign origin.
(updated annually)

This report counts utility patents as well as other types of U.S.
documents (i.e., design patents, plant patents, reissue patents,
defensive publications, and statutory invention registrations)
granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 1977.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report provide yearly totals for patents
granted during the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes the
patents by their dates of grant and Part A2 distributes the patents
by their dates of patent application. The totals are broken down
by origin (origin is determined by the residence of the first-named
inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for
the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S. patents during
the period. Totals are also divided according to general category
of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
1,000 or more patent documents since 1977. It ranks these organizations
in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting
activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are
distributed in two ways, by year of grant and by year of patent
application.

This report counts only utility patents (i.e., "patents for
invention") granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report show the number of utility patents
granted since 1963. Yearly totals are provided for the most recent
14 years. Part A1 distributes patent grants by their dates of
grant and Part A2 distributes patent grants by their dates of
patent application. The totals are broken down by origin (patent
origin is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor),
either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for the 36 foreign
countries receiving the most U.S. patents during the period. Totals
are also divided according to general category of ownership, e.g.,
corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
1,000 or more patents since 1969. It ranks these organizations
in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting
activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are
distributed in two ways, by year of grant and by year of patent
application.

This report consists of a series of tables which show the yearly
number of utility patent applications filed at the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office since 1965. Application counts are separated
by country of origin based on the residence of the first-named
inventor. (updated annually)

This report counts only design patents granted by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office since 1977.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report provide yearly totals for patents
granted during the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes the
patents by their dates of grant and Part A2 distributes the patents
by their dates of patent application. The totals are broken down
by origin (origin is determined by the residence of the first-named
inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for
the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S. patents during
the period. Totals are also divided according to general category
of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
50 or more design patents since 1977. It ranks these organizations
in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting
activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are
distributed in two ways, by year of grant and by year of patent
application. (updated annually)

This report counts only plant patents granted by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office since 1977.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report provide yearly totals for patents
granted during the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes the
patents by their dates of grant and Part A2 distributes the patents
by their dates of patent application. The totals are broken down
by origin (origin is determined by the residence of the first-named
inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for
the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S. patents during
the period. Totals are also divided according to general category
of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
3 or more plant patents since 1977. It ranks these organizations
in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting
activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are
distributed in two ways, by year of grant and by year of patent
application. (updated annually)

This report counts only reissue patents granted by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office since 1977.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report provide yearly totals for patents
granted during the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes the
patents by their dates of grant and Part A2 distributes the patents
by their dates of patent application. The totals are broken down
by origin (origin is determined by the residence of the first-named
inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for
the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S. patents during
the period. Totals are also divided according to general category
of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
10 or more reissue patents since 1977. It ranks these organizations
in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting
activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are
distributed in two ways, by year of grant and by year of patent
application. (updated annually)

This report counts only statutory invention registrations and
defensive publications granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office since 1977.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report provide yearly totals for the patent
documents granted during the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes
the documents by their dates of grant and Part A2 distributes
the documents by their dates of patent application. The totals
are broken down by origin (origin is determined by the residence
of the first-named inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts
are shown for the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S.
documents during the period. Totals are also divided according
to general category of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned, government-owned,
or individual-owned.

Part B of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
1 or more statutory invention registrations or defensive publications
since 1977. It ranks these organizations in terms of total patent
receipts and profiles their annual activity for the most recent
14 year period. Documents are distributed in two ways, by year
of grant and by year of patent application. (updated annually)

For each calendar year, a list of the U.S. states and countries
from which U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patents originated
is presented. Separate counts are provided for each state and
country and for each patent type (i.e., utility patents, design
patents, etc.). (updated annually)

This report shows the number of U.S. patent documents (i.e., utility
patents, design patents, plant patents, reissue patents, defensive
publications, and statutory invention registrations) granted since
1977, broken down by the state or country of origin (patent origin
is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor). Yearly
totals are provided for the most recent years.

This report shows the number of U.S. utility patents (i.e., "patents
for invention") granted since 1963, broken down by the state
or country of origin (patent origin is determined by the residence
of the first-named inventor). Yearly totals are provided for the
most recent 21 years.

This report presents the number of utility patents awarded to
residents of each state, county (or county equivalent), and metropolitan
area in the United States. Federal Information Processing Standards
(FIPS) codes for each geographic area are also provided. Only
utility patents granted since 1990 are currently represented in
this report, but data for prior years will be included as the
data become available. The current report lists data for each
year since and including 1990. Distribution of other types of
patents, e.g., plant, design, reissue, and distributions of inventors
by county and metropolitan area are available upon request (see
also Custom Reports). (updated annually)

Part A1 of this report provides the total count for utility
patents (i.e., "patents for invention") granted during
the calendar year (or half year, in the case of mid-year reports).
The total is broken down by origin (origin is determined by the
residence of the first-named inventor), either U.S. or foreign.
A count is shown for each of the 36 foreign countries receiving
the most U.S. patents during the year. The total is also divided
according to general category of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned,
government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B1 of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
30 or more patents during the year. It ranks these organizations
in terms of patent receipts for the year. (updated annually)

This report counts all patent documents (i.e., utility patents,
design patents, plant patents, reissue patents, defensive publications,
and statutory invention registrations) granted by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office since 1977 for which ownership was assigned
to the U.S. Government at the time of grant.

Parts A1 and A2 of this report provide yearly totals for patents
granted during the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes the
patents by their dates of grant and Part A2 distributes the patents
by their dates of patent application. The totals are broken down
by origin (origin is determined by the residence of the first-named
inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for
the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S. patents during
the period.

Part B of this report shows the Federal organizations which have
received 1 or more patent documents since 1977. It ranks these
Federal organizations in terms of total patent receipts and profiles
their annual patenting activity for the most recent 14 year period.
Patent grants are distributed in two ways, by year of grant and
by year of patent application. (updated annually)

This report shows the number of patent documents (i.e., utility
patents, design patents, plant patents, reissue patents, defensive
publications, and statutory invention registrations) granted since
1977 in each of the approximately 430 U.S. patent classes, the
primary divisions of technology within the U.S. Patent Classification
System. Yearly totals are provided for the most recent years.
The report consists of two parts, one which lists patent counts
by "original" classification only and one which lists
counts by "original" and "cross-reference"
classifications with duplicate patent counts eliminated. A list
of the U.S. patent class titles is included in this report.

This report counts only documents granted to independent inventors.
Independent inventor patents are those for which ownership is
either unassigned or assigned to an individual (i.e., not an organization)
at the time of grant.

This report shows the number of patent documents (i.e., utility
patents, design patents, plant patents, reissue patents, defensive
publications, and statutory invention registrations) granted since
1977 in each of the approximately 430 U.S. patent classes, the
primary divisions of technology within the U.S. Patent Classification
System. Yearly totals are provided for the most recent years.
The report consists of two parts, one which lists patent counts
by "original" classification only and one which lists
counts by "original" and "cross-reference"
classifications with duplicate patent counts eliminated. A list
of the U.S. patent class titles is included in this report. (updated
annually)

This report shows the number of "independent inventors"
by state (patent origin is determined by the residence of the
first-named inventor) for all U.S. patent documents (i.e., utility
patents, design patents, plant patents, reissue patents, defensive
publications, and statutory invention registrations) granted from
1977 to the present. Independent inventors are the inventors of
those patents which are either unassigned or assigned to individuals
at the time of patent grant. Yearly totals are provided for the
most recent 17 years. (updated annually)

This report shows the number of "independent inventors"
by state (patent origin is determined by the residence of the
first-named inventor) for all U.S. utility patents (i.e., "patents
for invention") granted from 1975 to the present. Independent
inventors are the inventors of those patents which are either
unassigned or assigned to individuals at the time of patent grant.
Yearly totals are provided for the most recent 17 years. (updated
annually)

This report counts only utility patents (i.e., "patents for
invention") granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Part A1 of this report shows the number of utility patents granted
from 1963 to 1984. Yearly totals are provided for the most recent
14 years. Part A1 distributes patent grants by their dates of
grant. The totals are broken down by origin (patent origin is
determined by the residence of the first-named inventor), either
U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for the 36 foreign countries
receiving the most U.S. patents during the period. Totals are
also divided according to general category of ownership, e.g.,
corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

Part B1 of this report shows the national and international corporations,
government agencies and other organizations which have received
500 or more patents from 1969 to 1984. It ranks these organizations
in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting
activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are
distributed by year of grant.(updated irregularly)

This report shows the number of U.S. utility patents (i.e., "patents
for invention") granted from 1963 to 1983, broken down by
the state or country of origin (patent origin is determined by
the residence of the first-named inventor). Yearly totals are
provided for the most recent 21 years.(updated irregularly)

For utility, design, plant, and reissue patents and statutory invention registrations granted from
1836 to the present, this report enables one to identify the issue year from the patent number.
(updated annually)

For patent documents granted since 1963, this report enables one
to identify the issue date from the patent number. For utility,
design, and plant patents granted from 1836 to 1997, this report
enables one to identify the issue year from the patent number.
(updated annually)

For statistical data profiling patenting activity at intellectual
property offices outside the United States, the web sites of those offices should
be consulted. Please note that patents granted by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office provide patent protection only within the
United States.

TAF reports which are available for downloading are either in
Adobe Acrobat ® format (".pdf"
file extension), in ASCII text format (".txt" file extension),
or in HTML Hypertext format (".htm" file extension).
Free software for viewing and printing PDF files may be obtained
by accessing the USPTO Internet page, (http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/viewers.html).

Updates to TAF General Statistical Reports are usually generated
in March/April of each year to incorporate data through December
of the previous year. Midyear updates are generated for some TAF
reports with the update reports containing data through June.
These update reports are generally available in late July to early
August. One exception is the "U.S. Patent Statistics Report",
which is fully updated in May/June of each year.

TAF single year reports are usually generated in February of the
following year. The "Patenting By Organizations Report",
however, is updated once per year in March/April.